Election Day Communion aims to heal partisan discord

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Published 5:56 pm, Thursday, November 1, 2012

Photo: RNS Photo Courtesy Ben Irwin, El

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More than 400 churches are preparing for a new tradition: Election Day Communion, when people of every political stripe will leave their respective partisan bunkers and line up side by side to receive the sacrament on Election Day.
RNS photo courtesy Ben Irwin, ElectionDayCommunion.org less

More than 400 churches are preparing for a new tradition: Election Day Communion, when people of every political stripe will leave their respective partisan bunkers and line up side by side to receive the ... more

Photo: RNS Photo Courtesy Ben Irwin, El

Election Day Communion aims to heal partisan discord

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Come to me, all ye who are weary of negative political ads and burdened by the wounds of a brutal campaign season. I will give you rest.

That twist on the call of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew is resonating this year as more than 400 community churches prepare for a new tradition: Election Day Communion. As voting winds down on Nov. 6, people of every political stripe will line up to receive the sacrament.

"We'll be saying to people: 'Look around. There's probably someone here who voted for the other guy,'" said Justin Barringer, who's helping organize a service at a homeless shelter in Lexington, Ky. "Yet you're sitting here sharing the body and blood of Christ as you ought to."

What began in 2008 at Springdale Mennonite Church in Waynesboro, Va., has snowballed into a movement. Churches of more than a dozen denominations will host services in 46 states.

"One thing that I personally hope happens is that it reminds us of what our deepest allegiance is as Christians," Troyer said. "It doesn't matter who wins. We will still have problems (after the election). We as a church in Houston have more in common than we disagree on."

Troyer noted that his church has people of all political persuasions. In fact, he said, he voted early and voted not red or blue, but for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. "In my church, we're split. We have people across the spectrum, including people who are not voting for faith reasons," he said.

The national effort reflects the work of pastors and lay people who've parlayed a $35 budget into a website: electiondaycommunion.org.

"Many, including Christians, are looking for ways to be involved in the public square that transcend the sour tone and brutal tactics," said Jonathan Merritt, the author of "A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars."

For organizers, Election Day is ideal for remembering the church's nonpartisan mission: to bridge personal divides, refocus allegiance to God (not party) and work for justice beyond the ballot box. But whether the goal is to restore a church corrupted by partisan politics, or help mend a torn nation, will depend on local interpretation.

Congregations are warming to the event at a time when many long for new types of relationships between religion and politics. Some 60 percent of Democrats, 44 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of independents say houses of worship should keep out of political matters, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey.

The movement has gained traction in political battlegrounds - Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia - that have relatively large populations of Mennonites, who shunned politics just 50 years ago.

"Our participation in the party system, Democrat and Republican, has caused us to be passionate about things that look very different from the passion of Jesus," said Mark Schloneger, who led the first Election Day Communion service four years ago.

Those who gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will be urged to believe in the church's reconciling model.

"This is about healing the partisan divide in our country," said Pastor Morgan Guyton of Burke, Va. "Our task as the church is to model being in community with people with whom we have differences of opinion, valuing their perspectives and trusting in the bond that we have."